Study; JLARC; effect of salaries, employmentbenefits, and other relevant factors on teacher recruitment and retention;report. Directs the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commissionto study the effect of salaries, employment benefits, and other relevantfactors on recruiting and retaining high-quality, fully licensed teachers, including (i) examining salaries, employment benefits, andother financial benefits and incentives available to teachers inrelation to teacher recruitment and retention in each local schooldivision; (ii) identifying disparities in salaries, employment benefits,and other financial benefits and incentives available to teachersin relation to teacher recruitment and retention rates between high-povertyand rural school divisions, high-income school divisions, and theCommonwealth on average; (iii) reviewing salaries, employment benefits,and other financial benefits and incentives available to teachersin relation to the rates of teacher recruitment and retention andthe numbers of fully licensed teachers in adjoining states and theDistrict of Columbia; and (iv) identifying factors that positivelyimpact the recruitment and retention of high-quality, fully licensedteachers.
Elections; campaign finance; Public CampaignsProgram and Fund established; tax check-off. Establishes thePublic Campaigns Program within the Department of Elections for thepurpose of providing matching payments of public money to participatingcandidates receiving qualified small-dollar contributions of lessthan $250. The bill requires participating candidates to agree toabide by contribution limits and limits on the use of public matchingpayments in addition to agreeing to participate in public debates.Under the bill, matching payments are made from the Public CampaignsFund, which is funded by an option on Virginia tax returns to directa contribution of $40 from an individual filer, or $80 dollars forjoint filers, to the Fund. The bill requires the Department to conductaudits of elections involving Program participants and to make a reportto the General Assembly on the status of the Program generally.
Temporary detention; certified evaluators; report.Authorizes hospitals with a psychiatric emergency department to employ certain trained individuals to perform evaluations to determinewhether a person meets the criteria for temporary detention for behavioralhealth treatment. The bill defines psychiatric emergency departmentas an emergency department of a hospital licensed by the Department of Health that is physically attached to a hospital with adult andadolescent inpatient psychiatric beds and adult detoxification bedslicensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and DevelopmentalServices. The bill requires participating hospitals with psychiatricemergency departments to annually report the number of temporary detentionorder evaluations completed, the number of temporary detention orderspetitioned, the number of individuals evaluated for temporary detention who were determined to not meet the criteria for temporary detention,and the number of individuals under a temporary detention order admittedto a state facility to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Educationand Health, the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions,and the Behavioral Health Commission. The bill has an expirationdate of July 1, 2026.
Board of zoning appeals; appeal to general districtcourt. Provides that in the case of an appeal from the boardof zoning appeals of an order, requirement, decision, or determinationof a zoning administrator, a person aggrieved by any such order,requirement, decision, or determination may file the petition withthe clerk of the general district court that shall have jurisdictionto hear such appeal.
Expired vehicle registration; penalties. Establishesa tiered fine system for expired vehicle registrations. The billestablishes a fine of $25 if the registration has been expired for less than one year on the date the citation is issued and a fineof no less than $25 but no more than $250 if such registration hasbeen expired for at least one year on the date the citation is issued.The bill provides that an expired registration does not constitutea traffic infraction if the registration sticker was valid withinthe last 60 days.
Public institutions of higher education; legacyadmissions prohibited. Prohibits any public institution of highereducation from utilizing legacy admissions for any student applicant.The bill defines "legacy admissions" as any policy or practice wherebyany individual who applies for admission to an institution of highereducation and who is the child, grandchild, or sibling of an alumnusof such institution is afforded preferential treatment in the admissionsdecision.
Elementary and secondary schools and institutionsof higher education; student participation in sports; access torestrooms and changing rooms. Requires each interscholastic,intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport sponsored by a public school, or any other school that is a member of the VirginiaHigh School League, or by a public institution of higher educationto be expressly designated as one of the following based on biologicalsex: (i) males, men, or boys; (ii) females, women, or girls; or (iii)coed or mixed if participation on such team or sport is open to bothmales, men, or boys and females, women, or girls. The bill prohibitsany such team or sport that is expressly designated for females,women, or girls from being open to students whose biological sex is male. The bill creates a civil cause of action for any studentthat suffers harm as a result of a knowing violation of a provisionof the bill by a school or institution or as a result of the student'sreporting a violation of a provision of the bill by a school, institution,athletic association, or organization. The bill also limits accessto any restroom or changing room that is capable of being accessedby more than one individual at one time in any public elementaryor secondary school building or building owned or controlled by any public institution of higher education exclusively to individualsof the same biological sex.
Investigation prior to release; input from theattorney for the Commonwealth. Provides that when the ParoleBoard is conducting the required investigation to determine if aprisoner will be released on parole, the Board must notify the attorneyfor the Commonwealth in each jurisdiction in which an offense occurredfor which the prisoner is incarcerated, and the attorney for theCommonwealth may submit his input to the Board regarding the impactthat the release of the prisoner will have on public safety.
Department of Education and Department of Workforce Development and Advancement; work group; regional workforce developmentand child care initiative in Southwest Virginia; report. Requires the Department of Education and the Department of Workforce Development and Advancement to jointly establish and appoint such members assuch departments deem appropriate to a work group to monitor theimplementation of the regional workforce development and child careinitiative being implemented by the United Way of Southwest Virginia,the Wellspring Foundation of Southwest Virginia, Food City, and theTown of Abingdon in Abingdon and in four other locations throughoutthe surrounding region. The bill requires such work group to monitorthe extent to which such initiative achieves its stated goals, includingin the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics(STEM) education, teacher training, and access to child care, andto report its findings and any associated recommendations for thereplication of such initiative in other regions of the Commonwealthto the Chairmen of the House Committee on Commerce and Energy, theHouse Committee on Education, the House Committee on General Laws,the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor, the Senate Committeeon Education and Health, and the Senate Committee on General Lawsand Technology no later than November 1, 2025.
Smoking with a minor under the age of 15 present;penalty. Creates a Class 3 misdemeanor for any person who smokes,as defined in the bill, in the presence of a minor under the age of15 and directly exposes such minor to secondhand smoke. The billalso allows a conviction for smoking in the presence of a minor ora conviction for smoking in a vehicle with a minor present to beadmissible in any proceeding in which it is alleged that a childis abused and neglected.
Department of Social Services; human traffickingservices. Adds to the responsibilities of the Department of SocialServices certain duties related to human trafficking prevention andvictim support. The bill requires the Department, among other things,to develop a tiered certification system for programs that provideservices to victims of human trafficking, which shall consider (i)whether the program is accredited by a nationally recognized credentialingentity; (ii) the program's services, practices, governance, organizationalstructure, leadership, financial management, and compliance history;and (iii) any other criteria deemed relevant by the Department. The bill also authorizes the Department, subject to regulations of theBoard of Social Services and the availability of state or federalfunds, to receive state and federal funds for services to victimsof human trafficking; disburse funds through matching grants to localpublic or private nonprofit agencies to provide service programsfor the victims of human trafficking; and develop and implement grantmechanisms for funding such local services.
Board of Health; hospital regulations; patientdrug testing. Requires the Board of Health to amend its regulationsto require hospitals to test patients who are presenting with overdosesymptoms for fentanyl and to test for fentanyl, marijuana, amphetamines, opioids, and phencyclidine as a part of any routine drug screeningadministered to a patient.
